Friday, August 27
The Blacktop Nationals is already underway downtown. There’s a lot to see and do for very little or no money. Cruise down to the Douglas and McLean area or Century II and you’ll find yourself in the middle of it all. At 7 p.m., walk a few blocks over to the WaterWalk Commons and enjoy a free concert with The Grateful Not to be Dead. Or head west to cheer on the Wingnuts as they make a play for the finals. General admission tickets are only $5.
If the noise of roaring engines and squealing tires gets to be too much, get some peace and quiet (and a few laughs) at the Scottish Rite Center on First Street. They’re showing a free silent movie at 7 p.m. A $5 hot dog supper is available when the doors open at 6.
If you’d rather not fuss with finding a parking place, park your car at the Starlite Drive-In, which has triple-features on both screens for only $10 per carload and some pretty good movies. Choose from the kid-and-parent favorites on Screen 1 or the buddies-night-out features on Screen 2.
Saturday, August 28
The Starlite deal is also available on Saturday, and the Blacktop Nationals, as are a whole host of other fun family activities–more than you can shake a stick at, that’s for sure. I don’t think it’s humanly possible to do them all, so you’re going to have some tough choices to make.
Free public skating at the Wichita Ice Center goes from 12:15-3:15 p.m.
The free “Art on Speed” Family Fun Day at the Ulrich Museum of Art begins at 1 p.m. If you want to go early, the movie Cloudy with the Chance of Meatballs, which only costs $ .50 for kids and just a bit more for adults, starts at 11 a.m. (The movie is free for WSU students.)
Of course, I think the Summer Jam Battle of the Bands competition should be heating up about now, so you might want to catch that for free anytime between 2-6 p.m. It’s held under the awning at the Stevens Scooter Store on East Kellogg.
And then the Derby Summerfest with fireworks begins at 5 p.m. Everyone is welcome to this events, even if they don’t live in Derby (I asked). To me, these community festivals are Goldilocks-sized get-togethers: there will be enough going on to keep it interesting, but you’ll still be able to find a place to park your car. This year’s Summerfest will include the Derby fireworks show that had to be canceled because of rain on July 4th.
And speaking of fireworks, the Wichita Wingnuts will explode a few of their own on Saturday night inside Lawrence-Dumont Stadium after the game. It should be good weather for it, without a cloud in the sky if the Google weather widget in my sidebar is right.
Sunday, August 29
The big news for Sunday is that you can get rid of your old phone books and get a discount at the Sedgwick County Zoo. Each phone book gets you a $2 admission price between 8:30 a.m – 5 p.m.
The Blacktop Nationals continue on Sunday, and the Wichita Wingnuts have planned their Fan Appreciation Day for that day, too. I have it on good authority that the Wingnuts will be giving away LOADS of merchandise and bats and balls and other fun stuff. The game starts at 5:05 p.m. on Sunday.
Wichita on the Cheap is brought to you by freelance writer Carolyn Erickson, who has called Wichita her home since the 90s (and she’s been a cheapskate longer than that). Although 